Volleyball Marches On

It was business as usual for the Palisades High girls’ varsity volleyball team on Monday night as the host Dolphins cruised into the quarterfinals of the City Division II playoffs with a 25-14, 25-21, 25-15 second-round victory over King-Drew. Palisades, which finished second behind Venice in the Western League, was seeded third in the 24-team draw and had a first-round bye last Thursday. The Dolphins dominated from the start on Monday against the 14th-seeded Golden Eagles, who were coming off a sweep of 19th-seeded Contreras. Palisades hosts sixth-seeded Eagle Rock, the Northern League champion, in the quarterfinals Wednesday. If victorious, the Dolphins will likely travel to second-seeded Venice in the semifinals next Tuesday. Cross Country Palisades’ boys dominated the Western League Finals last Wednesday at Pierce College in Woodland Hills. Junior Grant Stromberg easily won the varsity race in 16:12 and sophomore Drake Johnston was third in 16:37. Senior Danny Escalante was ninth in 17:34, sophomore Liam Palladino was 13th in 18:05, freshman Jonathan Tewadros was 15th in 18:12, junior Nick Wong was 16th in 18:17 and junior Austin Gelber was 17th in 18:18. Palisades won the team competition with 41 points, followed by University (54) and Venice (73). The Dolphins also won the junior varsity race, with Paulis Ramos, Daniel Hernandez and Alex Hernandez sweeping the top three spots. Henry Dorfman was fifth, Evan Shaner was 12th, Oscar Ruiz was 16th and Kendrick Allen was 32nd. Sophomore Jack Palladino was second, Matt Kato was third and Ben Fuligni was fifth in the boys’ frosh/soph race. Sophomore Jacklyn Bamberger won the girls’ varsity race in 19:01, over 27 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Sarah Dobbs of Venice. Rounding out the Dolphins were Tyler Williams in sixth place, Amber Greer in eighth, Wendy Gomez in 18th, Mikaela Panza in 21st, Sydney Jacques in 23rd and Lucy Yu in 28th. In the team standings, Palisades finished second behind University with 54 points. In the girls’ junior varsity, senior Amy Moulthrop was second in 25:56. City prelims are Wednesday and the finals are next Saturday, November 20, at Pierce. Girls’ Tennis Despite being the higher seed, Palisades traveled to Eagle Rock for its City championship division quarterfinal match on Tuesday because not enough courts were available to host the match at the Palisades Recreation Center. No matter, the home court advantage did little to help the seventh-seeded Eagles, as Palisades dominated, 6-1, despite some tense moments early. Senior Samantha Kogan needed two and a half hours to win her match at No. 1 singles, 4-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4. Jessie Corneli won easily at No. 2 singles, 6-0, 6-2, Perri Zaret won easily at No. 3 singles, 6-3, 6-0 and Katie Vincent did the same at No. 4 singles, 6-2, 6-1. All three doubles teams swept for the second-seeded Dolphins, who travel to Woodland Hills to play third-seeded El Camino Real in the semifinals Friday. A victory would put Palisades in the City final next Wednesday, November 17, at Balboa Sports Center in Encino.